Meryl Harrison photographed at the party to celebrate her 80th birthday.
Meryl Harrison is renowned for her part in the rescue of the animals forcibly abandoned on farms during the turmoil of Zimbabwe’s land redistribution programme.
“I never thought I’d reach my 80th birthday. Those of you who know me well know my life has been a bit of a car crash, and really it’s quite unexpected. I’ve crawled here one way or the other.”
The VAWZ (UK) stall at the Whiteley Village Summer Fair 2014
I am high above the clouds en route to Naples but in my mind is an English summer fair held almost three weeks ago at Whiteley Village. The sky that day was the same blue as today’s with storms smudged briefly across the far horizons.
Whiteley, a retirement village, is a web of cottages set in acres of Surrey. Its annual summer fair is a well-known local event.
This year it was hot. An ice-cream van dotted the crowds with dripping cones while beneath the bunting skin ripened, bands tootled and stalls set out their wares. The visitors were a mixed selection of locals and the further-flung, with a strong dash of Zimbabweans adding to the flavour.
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The Phraser 